Odyssey's End
by Rukis Croax
Summary: A response to a fic challenge. . .to write a Zechs x Noin fanfic in which the first sentence be the first lines from a famous novel. . .in this case, Homer's The Odyssey. Turned out rather fitting, I suppose.


Odyssey's End

**Odyssey's End**

  
Standard disclaimer. . .Gundam Wing doesn't belong to me. . .blah blah blah. . .egh, you get the idea. . . . .

Note: I wrote this at the height of my Gundam craze, which was, alas, quite some time ago, so it's not up to par with my current fanfiction writing style (which is lacking almost everything as it is, anyway, so you can imagine how terrible I feel about THIS one). It's standard Zechs angst, mixed in with standard Noin obsessive behavior. Not too desparate on either side (but hell, if I was the object of attraction to a man like that, I'd be counting the days between visits, too).   
  


All the survivors of the war had reached their homes by now and so put the perils of battle behind them.   
Among them was the perfect soldier, the God of Death, the Silencer, the Noble of the desert, and the Dragon. Determined to extinguish the last flames of battle, they'd set their weapons ablaze, the brilliant detonations a testimony to the world that the war was now truly over. They could live their lives without the cost of others'.   
_Because they are still alive_. . . . The haunting voice in Zechs Merquise's mind whispered to him. _But what of the soldier that is dead, but still living?_ Soldiers were supposed to fade away when peace came. Disappear into history books. Die.   
Zechs could not. . .because he had already died. The day he'd ordered Libra to ram the earth, he'd sentenced himself. Hoping that history would look on his 'mistake' with disgust, and see how horrible war really was. He'd sacrificed more than his life for the cause. . .he'd sacrificed his soul.   
He would have been more than willing to just fade away now. Even destroy himself, as the Gundam pilots had done to their Gundams. After all, his body was just as much a weapon as Tallgeese had been. But he couldn't. Not now that. . . .   
He glanced over to his left at the woman sitting beside him. She'd insisted on coming with him on his journey, though he himself didn't know where he was going. He'd tried for the past two years to keep her away from him, knowing this might happen. Meeting her on the battlefield outside Marimaea's mansion had been a mistake. . .but the past was the past. He hated to have to be a burden to her, but she'd threatened him, under gunpoint, none the less, that attempting to take off again was futile.   
Supposedly, there was some sort of a Terraforming project that could use their help, and it promised to be a smaller operation that would not put him in the public eye. It would take them a few hours to get to the colony, and until then, he had nothing but his thoughts, space, and the beautiful woman beside him.   
Lucrezia stood up and walked behind his chair, leaning over and wrapping her arms around his neck. He felt her cheek against his, and then her breath as she spoke.   
"Thinking hard, are we?"   
Zechs afforded her a half smile, but kept his eyes focused on the starry space in front of them. "Trying to figure out how to get rid of you so you can attempt to live a happy life."   
"Come now, you know I'm not happy unless you're around." She chuckled.   
"Oh yes, I'm just a great big ray of sunshine." Zechs snorted, then tilted his head to the side. "What DO you see in me, anyway?"   
"Right now," Lucrezia pushed a few strands of his hair away from her face. "Just your hair." She attempted to move some of his bangs away from his face, but they just fell back into their disarrayed tumble. She sighed, "You know, it really annoys me when I can't see your face. It reminds me of all those years. . . ."   
"You're one to talk, you know." Zechs lifted a hand up, brushing aside the frond of black hair covering her right eye. "I've only ever seen one side of your face at once. It makes me wonder how you ever managed to pilot a suit."   
Lucrezia suddenly erupted with laughter.   
Zechs blinked. "What?" He questioned.   
"Do you. . ." she covered her mouth with her hand, attempting to stifle another laugh, ". . .you know Heero asked me the exact same thing a year and half ago, when he was staying at the Cinq Kingdom? Quatre, too."   
Zechs was silent for a minute, and then he murmured quietly, "The Cinq kingdom. . .I wonder how Relena is doing now."   
"She'll be fine, Zechs." Lucrezia patted his shoulder. "With Heero taking over security?"   
"_That's_ what I'm worried about."   
"You're just being overprotective now." She said, putting her head over his shoulder and closing her eyes. "Heero certainly isn't going to hurt her. He's had about three thousand opportunities to do that already, and he never did. Plus, he loves her."   
Zechs sighed, his mind drifting back to the short conversation he and Heero had had just a day ago. After crashing his Gundam and attempting to shoot Marimaea, the youth had passed out, presumably from the physical stress of battling in Wing for so long, and at such an intense level. After he'd regained consciousness, he'd travelled with Relena to the Cinq Kingdom, leaving the other Gundam pilots to their own destinies. Zechs had stopped by to bade a silent farewell to his sister, and was confronted by Heero.   
  
"Shouldn't you say good-bye to her face?" The youth asked.   
"Relena does not need the distraction now." Zechs answered, looking through the window into the room where she sat talking with a group of older delegates. "And she no longer needs my protection." He looked back at the dark brown-haired gundam pilot.   
Heero's face was unreadable, as usual, but judging by the time he took to respond, he was probably considering what Zechs had said.   
"So," Heero let his arms rest by his sides, "what will you do now?"   
"I could ask you the same." Zechs said. "I've wondered for some time what the perfect soldier will do in a time of peace."   
"I'll do as I always have," Heero answered, "I'll live by my emotions. I don't know where I'll go, but I will know when I have to."   
Zechs nodded. "I'm not sure where my path lies, either. But I'll take that as advice." He put his hand forward, slowly.   
Heero looked down at the offering, was silent for a moment, then put his hand out and shook. Zechs was reminded of when they had shaken hands before the battle in Antarctica, but unlike then, the agreement now was not one of death, but of life.   
  
"Hm." Zechs said quietly, and realized, for the first time, that as his mind had drifted off, so had Lucrezia.   
He looked up, surprised to see she was no longer in the cockpit. Craning his neck, he looked beyond, to the open door leading to the quarters of the small shuttle. It was open.   
He got up from his seat and walked through the doorway, emerging into the small room beyond. He couldn't see her anywhere in the dark room.   
He was abruptly jarred backwards as a strong hold wrapped around his neck from behind. "Surprise." He heard her whisper into his ear. Then a tongue traced along the side of his jaw. He was hit with a sense of deja vu. . .remembering a certain incident last year when Lucrezia had ambushed him like this at the lake victoria academy.   
"You know," he grunted as Lucrezia tightened her hold on him and tasted his skin again, "it's going to be real difficult for us to do anything with these suits on."   
Lucrezia just chuckled. "I already got mine off." She lowered her arms around his waste. "Now all we have to do is work on yours." She tightened her arms again. "I told you I would never leave your side. And I meant it."   
"Why would you want to live with a dead man?" He asked.   
"Because I love him." She answered, and leaned forward to kiss him.   
Zechs found himself lost in the moment. The last fleeting thought that went through his head was Heero's advice. Live by your emotions. He knew what he felt for Lucrezia. For now, that would be enough to guide him.   



End file.
